To go live on Instagram, swipe right anywhere in Feed, scroll to Live at the bottom, add a title, and tap Go live. Instagram's Help Center says only public accounts with 1,000 followers or more can start a Live video. While you are live you can pin a comment or turn commenting off, and when you end the broadcast you can share it as a reel. You can also schedule a live from 1 hour to 90 days ahead. The seven steps below follow the Help Center pages, with what each one says about archives, notifications and moderation.
Check that your account can go live
Before the steps, check the rules Instagram states.
- Followers and account type. Instagram's Help Center says only Instagram users who have a public account with 1,000 followers or more will be able to start a Live video.
- Teen Accounts. The Help Center says the ability to start a live video is off by default for Teen Accounts. Teens under 16 need a parent's or guardian's permission to turn it on, and teens 16 to 17 can turn it on without permission.
- Removed posts and new accounts. The same page says you may not be able to start a live video if you have previously posted something that was removed for going against the Community Standards, and that newly created accounts may not be able to go Live. It points to your account status for your permissions.
If the Live option is missing and you are under these limits, Instagram's pages we read do not list any other way around the follower rule.
Step 1: Open Live from Feed
The Help Center gives the same first step for iPhone and Android: swipe right anywhere in Feed, then scroll to Live at the bottom. The Schedule page adds a second route: tap Create at the top, or swipe right in Feed, then tap Live at the bottom.
Step 2: Add a title
On iPhone, Instagram says to tap Add a title, enter the title, then tap Done. On Android it says to tap Title on the left, enter it, then tap Add title.
Instagram's creator pages recommend adding a title before you go live. They also suggest pinning a comment to introduce yourself, because followers tune in at different times.
Step 3: Tap Go live
Tap Go live at the bottom. The Help Center says the number of viewers appears at the top of the screen and comments appear at the bottom.
Two other starting points exist. If you want to go live with up to 3 other people, read our guide to Instagram Live Rooms, which covers guests. If you stream from a computer, Instagram's Help Center describes Live Producer on Instagram.com: click Create, select Live video, enter a title and select your audience. It says Practice will not start the live for anyone and Public will take you live to your followers. The mobile steps on the Help Center pages do not mention a Practice option or an audience choice, so no page we read says the phone app has them.
Step 4: Moderate while you are live
The Help Center lists these tools for a live video in progress:
- Comment: tap Comment at the bottom of the screen to add your own comment.
- Pin a comment: tap a comment, then tap Pin comment so viewers can see it more easily.
- Turn off comments: tap Options at the bottom, then Turn off commenting. Instagram adds that any keyword filters you have turned on also apply to comments on your live video.
- Turn off requests to go live with you: tap Options at the bottom, then Turn off requests to go live.
- Add from camera roll (iOS): the Help Center says iOS users can tap Add from camera roll in the bottom right to show photos and videos from the camera roll. Only you can see them while you are sharing the live video, and this is not available in a live room with guests.
Step 5: End the live and choose what happens next
When you finish, the Help Center says to tap Close in the top right, then confirm with End Now on iPhone or End now on Android. From there you can tap Share to share it to your profile.
Instagram's page on sharing after a live ends says that you can share a replay to your profile and Feed as a reel by tapping Share as reel, and that you can also tap Download to save it to your camera roll. It lists three limits:
- The replay does not include likes or comments from the original live video.
- The number of viewers restarts once you share a replay.
- You cannot edit or trim the live video before sharing it as a replay.
The Help Center also says that when you save the live video to your profile or download it from Live Archive, only the video is saved, not comments, likes or viewers. It may take a minute to save to your phone, especially for longer videos.
Step 6: Use the Live archive
Instagram's page on turning off archiving says Live videos you create and share are saved to your Live archive, and that archived Live videos can't be seen on Instagram unless you choose to share them. On how long they stay, Instagram's creator page for Live says you can access them in your Archive for up to 30 days; the Help Center pages we read give no time limit, so check your Live archive in the app.
To share from the archive, the Help Center says to go to your profile, tap Menu in the top right, tap Archive, tap Stories archive at the top, then tap Live archive. If you don't see Archive, Instagram's page on archived content gives another path: Menu, Your activity, Archived, then Stories archive at the top and Live archive. Pick the broadcast and tap Share. That opens the reels publish screen, where you can write a caption and tag people.
If you do not want the archive, Instagram says to tap Create, tap Live, tap Settings, tap Live, and turn off Save Live to Archive. The Help Center warns that turning it off deletes any live videos you share from that point forward. The same page notes that archived live videos you shared publicly will be used to improve AI at Meta unless you delete them or change your account to private.
Step 7: Schedule a live and tell followers
Instagram's Help Center says you can schedule a live video anywhere from 1 hour in advance to up to 90 days in advance. The steps it gives:
- Tap Create at the top or swipe right anywhere in Feed.
- Tap Live at the bottom, then tap Schedule on the left.
- Enter a video title and select a start time, then tap Done.
- Tap Schedule live video at the bottom.
- To share it, tap Share and choose how. Posts and stories you share include the title and start time and an option for people to set a reminder.
Your soonest scheduled live appears on your profile below your profile picture; tap it to share, edit or cancel. Instagram says you will get a notification 24 hours and 15 minutes before the time you selected. You can change the start time up until 45 minutes before it begins.
For followers, Instagram's notification pages say a person can turn on notifications for an account and choose Posts, Stories, Reels or Live videos. So a follower who wants to know when you go live can switch Live videos notifications on for your account. Those pages also say a person may get a push notification the first time you share something in a while, whether or not notifications are on. No Instagram page we read states how long a single live can run, so check the Live screen rather than relying on a number from a third party.
Tips Instagram gives for a better live
Instagram's creator page for Live suggests promoting ahead of time with a Story and the countdown sticker, making it interactive with features like Q&A, and adding a title before you go live. Its Live tips also point to comment moderation tools to keep the experience positive, and to saving your Live videos to your phone's camera roll.
Once the live is over, UpGrow's free Instagram audit takes a public username. If you want help growing the audience that tunes in, UpGrow's Instagram growth service targets people you choose and does not need your Instagram password. No tool or service changes who is eligible to go live, which stays set by Instagram's rules above.
FAQ
How many followers do you need to go live on Instagram?
Instagram's Help Center says only Instagram users who have a public account with 1,000 followers or more will be able to start a Live video.
Can you practice a live on Instagram before going public?
Instagram's Help Center describes Practice and Public only for starting a live from a computer with Live Producer on Instagram.com. It says Practice will not start the live for anyone. The phone steps on its pages do not mention it.
Can you schedule an Instagram live?
Yes. Instagram says you can schedule a live from 1 hour to 90 days in advance, and edit the start time until 45 minutes before it begins.
How do you turn off comments during an Instagram live?
Tap Options at the bottom of the live screen, then tap Turn off commenting. Instagram says keyword filters you have turned on also apply to live comments.
Where does a live video go after it ends?
It is saved to your Live archive unless you turn that off, and you can share it as a reel. Instagram says the replay does not include the original likes or comments.
